All the updates and implications of 20th Century Fox’s acquisition

Disney and Comcast are both trying to buy the media company

Contributors:

Verge Staff

Image credit: Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

20th Century Fox is up for grabs, and it has a pair of high-powered suitors: Disney and Comcast. Last summer, Disney CEO Bob Iger and Fox chairman Rupert Murdoch began discussions about a potential acquisition. After learning of these talks, Verizon and Comcast expressed their own interest in buying the media company.

Fox isn’t going to be absorbed into either company entirely: its news and sports networks will be folded into a new company called New Fox, while its larger entertainment portfolio of films and television — and critically, its share of Hulu — would end up at one of the two companies.

It’s easy to see why both Disney and Comcast want Fox. It holds some extremely valuable intellectual property, from Avatar to Alien to X-Men; Disney’s been snapping up massive amounts of IP in recent years, and Comcast is looking to invest further in the franchise game, too, including outlets to distribute it.

Fox’s fate is far from certain: there’s been a real back-and-forth as both Disney and Comcast vie to outbid each other. Follow along for all of the updates and commentary from the business saga.